Hopscotch Introduces Programming for Kids on an iPad Hopscotch is a new app designed to get kids coding on the iPad. It is an absolutely great introductory program, and one that will only improve as time goes by. In many ways Hopscotch is a simplified version of Scratch with some additional controls for the iPad – you can, for example, make an object react to the tilt sensor. Like Scratch, you create a program easily by dragging jigsaw-like pieces arrayed on the side of the screen into an active area. Modify the details such as distance or duration and you’re good to go. There are limitations, though, which mean that even slightly older kids, or those with a bit of experience with programming, will soon be looking to move on to something more sophisticated. The next release, coming out in the next couple of weeks, will allow you to edit the random numbers. Although there are limitations, Hopscotch works wonderfully within them. All in all I strongly recommend Hopscotch as a great way to introduce kids to programming. Like this:
Teaching Kids to Code Every era demands--and rewards--different skills. In different times and different places, we have taught our children to grow vegetables, build a house, forge a sword or blow a delicate glass, bake bread, create a soufflé, write a story or shoot hoops. Now we are teaching them to code. We are teaching them to code, however, not so much as an end in itself but because our world has morphed: so many of the things we once did with elements such as fire and iron, or tools such as pencil and paper, are now wrought in code. We are teaching coding to help our kids craft their future. In this collection we share many different perspectives on coding, from a university professor's vantage point (MIT's Mitch Resnick describes why learning to code is like learning to learn) to an entrepreneur's reflections from his cross-country roadtrip to bring coding--and his stuffed dog--to classrooms across the U.S. We should always teach children to bake bread, feed the goats and wield a hammer.
Professional blog I was recently asked about some programming environments I've used with students, and I thought I might as well compile a list of them, as well as some environments I've considered using. Blockly (Image credit: BlocklyBlockly is an open-source online programming environment developed by Google. It is currently very much a work in progress, although the language itself seems pretty stable, getting it to a state of usability for a group of students is not for the faint of heart. (Image credit: Coffee MUD screenshot)Coffee MUD is easily the most difficult of all of the programming environments listed here to set up, and certainly amongst the most complicated environments to use.
Cargo-Bot – iPad The first game programmed entirely on iPad® Be Logical. Play Cargo-Bot Presenting Cargo-Bot. The first game programmed entirely on iPad using Codea™ Get it for free on the App Store. Cargo-Bot is a puzzle game where you teach a robot how to move crates. It features 36 fiendishly clever puzzles, haunting music and stunning retina graphics. Built with Codea Cargo-Bot is the first game on the App Store developed using Codea, an iPad app for rapidly creating games and simulations. Get Codea on the App Store. Cargo-Bot was developed by Rui Viana using Codea. Fred Bogg coded the entire music engine using Codea's sound API, as well as composing the Cargo-Bot score. Ideas for Teaching Computer Technology to Kids | A collection of ideas and resources that might help someone who wants to teach kids about computer technology
SNAP! (Build Your Own Blocks) Code.org: Solving our CS shortage 1 teacher, 1 student at a time Code.org, founded by brothers and serial entrepreneurs Ali and Hadi Partovi, is dedicated to improving the state of computer science education in the United States. The bottom line is that we're nowhere close to being able to meet the demand for programmers in the coming years. Check out this graphic from Code.org: These statistics are actually pretty ridiculous. We focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in many of our conversations, but actual programming rarely enters the picture. Code.org has attracted interest from some of the biggest names in technology and politics. Our policy at Facebook is literally to hire as many talented engineers as we can find. From an educational perspective, Bill Gates hits the nail on the head (also speaking in support of Code.org and its efforts): Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains. I'm not a history teacher.
How to write a kick-ass proposal for Google Summer of Code « Teo Mrnjavac In a few weeks students can begin submitting their applications for Google Summer of Code 2016. KDE has been accepted as a mentoring organization again this year, and I’ve already been contacted by several students looking to do a Google Summer of Code project with KDE. Prospective Summer of Code students usually have lots of enthusiasm, and they often write great proposals with little or no help, but sometimes these proposals lack key information. I’ve seen my share of good and bad proposals. This post is for students who wish to take part in Google Summer of Code. Google Summer of Code is a kind of like a scholarship program, and a very competitive one: if you get picked, you’re one of just a thousand students in the world (about 1300 last year, 36 of those with KDE) who get to spend their summer hacking on open source software while learning from the very best software craftspeople, and get paid for it too. I used to structure my proposals the following way (worked well 3 times).
Managing disruptive technology: A conversation with investor Chamath Palihapitiya “Technology will disrupt every facet of every job,” says Chamath Palihapitiya, the former Facebook executive turned venture investor. For executives, he argues, it isn’t enough just to understand the technologies, such as sensors and autonomous vehicles, that will have an outsized impact on improving the quality of life and economic output. New waves of technological disruption will probably blindside executives who don’t build technical proficiency into the way they manage their organizations. Interview transcript Three technologies to watch I’ll tell you the three things that I’m most excited by. So for the first example, what we’re seeing now is sensors everywhere. And as that happens, what we’re going to see are extremely explicit ways of improving one’s quality of life, one’s economic output, in really tangible and simple ways. And why are people going to the emergency room? And then it starts to build this heuristic model. Managing disruption Speaking JavaScript About the authors
The coding movement: Resources for computer science education Computer science education is making its way into K-12 schools, even at the elementary level. In the middle of a resounding push for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is a growing movement to expose children to computer science education and skills, also known as computer programming or coding. According to Code.org statistics, computer science is the highest-paid college degree, and jobs in computer programming are growing at two times the national average–but despite that, fewer than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in computer science. Forty of 50 states do not count computer science toward math or science requirements for high school graduation, and only 1 in 10 schools offer computer programming classes. ( Next page: Eleven coding resources to engage students )
Why Programming Is The Core Skill Of The 21st Century In the 20th Century, meaningful education was all about learning your ABCs. Today, it's centered on Alphas, Betas and C++. Programming skills are becoming ever more important, quickly turning into the core competency for all kinds of 21st Century workers. That inescapable fact is leading individuals to seek out new ways of learning to code, startups and non-profits to find ways to help them and businesses to search for innovative approaches to finding the coders they so desperately need. When daily deal site Living Social couldn't find the coding help it needed, for example, the company took matters into its own hands and successfully created its own qualified programmers. Through an experiment called Hungry Academy, Living Social paid 24 people to learn computer programming within five months. Likely due to Living Social’s larger troubles, the company won’t be repeating the experiment. See also: Plenty Of Ways To Learn Programming Lots Of Coding Jobs Going Begging